Post by Aby League

Are you a small nonprofit, or perhaps you’re a marketer with a nonprofit client? Do you find it hard to hit the KPIs? We can’t blame you. Coming up with a proper marketing strategy for a nonprofit organization can be tricky because you’re not just selling a product, you’re also selling a cause.

But the rise of smartphones and mobile-focused marketing has made it easier for marketers — especially those working for nonprofits — to reach their audience. Whether or not you have a mobile strategy or are just developing one, you should be aware of these commonplace mobile marketing mistakes to avoid so that you can reach or even surpass your KPIs (key performance indicators).

Not having a sound mobile marketing strategy

There’s an old saying that goes, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” This applies to marketers who fail to come up with a sound mobile marketing strategy. With mobile marketing, there are tons of information at your disposal and, equally, a ton of ways to use the information you get. This can be used to gather more specific information such as the best time to send out marketing campaigns, custom content, and correctly targeting the intended audience for each nonprofit.

Sadly, a lot of nonprofit organizations take this information for granted and don’t maximize such resources, which leads to a failed campaign or strategy. It’s a notorious mobile marketing mistake that you should avoid.

For you to create a sound strategy, you need to create a solid marketing framework to build on. This can include a mobile-friendly website, creating customized content, and even go as far as using the analytics to come up with an effective schedule to send out campaigns. Or you could simply look at how Propelrr’s digital marketing works.

Failing to tailor content to your niche cause

You can post as many videos, images, quotes or as many emails you like, but if you don’t realize that not everyone can relate to the cause of your client’s nonprofit organization then you are doomed to fail.

As with any digital marketing framework, you need to segregate your audience into personas or categories that fit your client’s needs and niche. Knowing the who, what, when, and how of your audience will help you create personalized content and campaigns. This will also help your audience relate more, which then leads to a more successful call-to-action.

Not optimizing content for different kinds of mobile devices

By now, online marketers should know that the number of mobile device users has overtaken the number of desktop users. As such, Google has rolled out it’s mobile-first indexing, which sent web developers, designers, and even SEOs in a frenzy to adapt their websites and campaigns as fast as possible to get a jump on the competition.

Marketers aren’t exempted from Google’s new search algorithm. Their marketing material and email campaigns must comply with mobile-first indexing, not because it makes it easier to search. No, no. It’s actually due to the number of users who will view your campaigns through mobile devices. In this day and age, nobody wants to squint their eyes or go through the trouble of zooming in just to see the content. It’s either you will follow today’s standards or go home. Make sure your content works on various platforms.

Not all nonprofits need a mobile app

It’s no secret that gaining traffic for nonprofits is difficult even for seasoned marketers. What more if you want people to install and use a mobile app. Before you or someone suggests that your client’s nonprofit organization needs a mobile app, you might want to do a little research.

Your client might be spending money on an app that nobody will use. If that would be the case, then it would be wiser to invest in helping create a better, more optimized mobile website to increase the presence for your client on all mobile devices. But in case there are specific targets that can only be achieved through a mobile app, then invest in creating one that will increase the engagement with your nonprofit.

Failure to make use of the data

You cannot come up with a marketing framework that drives online success if you don’t use the data given to you. You can gather the information from practically every avenue your nonprofit client has such as social media analytics, website stats, and through email marketing. You can also do A-B testing with the data you get.

By digesting the information, you can easily find trends, see when your audience is most active, and figure out which marketing strategy works and doesn’t help your nonprofit client. It’s all about how much you can play with the information you gather.

Failure to include a call-to-action

A lot of marketers — even those who work for nonprofits — fail to add a call-to-action because they hope the powerful message of their campaign materials will be enough sway people into supporting their respective causes

Unfortunately, you could have the best image or video in a marketing campaign, but without a call-to-action your audience will most likely leave after taking a look at the image or watching the video.

Even if you have a call-to-action, it should be placed precisely in such a way that it’s not intrusive or disrupts the user experience. Marketers can use a whole image as a link to a landing page or use the end of a video to help generate interest to click the link. A well-executed call-to-action can help your marketing framework drive online success.

Launching a marketing strategy without user retention in mind

Think of this: you’ve launched an awesome mobile marketing strategy to capture your audience’s attention. Now what? You can have all the goodies to get the audience behind your client’s nonprofit cause, but without a user retention strategy in mind you could be losing them as soon as they close the tab or email.

Keep your audience engaged by doing follow-ups, creating value in your mobile app marketing, keep your content updated, and provide great customer service. That way, your users keep coming back to your app or rally behind your client’s cause.

Marketing a nonprofit organization is a lot different compared to a business. That’s why knowing these mistakes will help you create a solid marketing strategy for your client with a nonprofit organization. After all, you’re not just selling a product; you’re also selling a cause.

The post 10 mobile marketing mistakes nonprofits must avoid appeared first on Socialbrite.

For many nonprofits, text messaging as a communications and fundraising tool can feel daunting. I’ve worked with nonprofits who grapple with understanding if text messaging is even right for them.

Below is a graphic shared with me by TextMagic that can help you better understand what an SMS campaign could look like and if it’s right for your nonprofit.

What do you think? Had your nonprofit worked on an SMS campaign? What were the results? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

The post How to Attract & Keep Donors Using Text Messaging appeared first on Socialbrite.

Snapchat is a mobile app that lets users share photos and videos that are deleted in 24 hours. Snapchat users share snaps (temporary videos and photos) privately with a few friends, or as stories with all their followers.

What people love about Snapchat

You might be wondering why someone would use a social network that deletes everything they share.

If you’re wondering this, you were probably born before the internet. You never had “that talk” with your parents about being safe online. And you never had to worry about a potential employer digging through your Facebook updates. Which is why millennials love Snapchat.

The best thing about Snapchat is that all posts are deleted by default. So snappers don’t need to worry about an everlasting online persona.

Snapchat explains:

Our default is delete. Conversations are ephemeral unlesssomeone chooses to save or screenshot them. And if they do,we do our best to make the sender aware. Just like a face-to-face conversation content stays impermanent unless someone goes out of their way to record it.

How nonprofits use Snapchat

There aren’t many nonprofits using Snapchat. But the ones that are using it are pretty damned creative.

For example, DoSomething.org recently published a series of snaps promoting their Everyday Superheroes campaign1. The campaign, which ends March 31st, encourages participants send a card to someone who makes the world a better place.

Their snap story begins with Ricky looking for a special way to show his appreciation for Puppet Sloth:

Ricky is encouraged to download an Everyday Superheroes card and give it to Puppet Sloth:

Puppet Sloth loves his card:

Everyone is happy:

Finally, Snapchat followers are encouraged to be part of the story by joining the Everyday Superheroes campaign:

How does this campaign benefit the organization?

• They stay top of mind with followers on their turf (Snapchat).
• Their followers are reminded that DoSomething.org is cool and creative brand.
• They grow their list (emails and phone numbers) as followers join the campaign.
• They leverage exclusivity and urgency (snaps are gone in 24 hours).
• Participants share the campaign with their friends with their own creative snaps.

So should Your Nonprofit use Snapchat?

During a recent Hump Day Coffee Break we discussed three questions you should answer before jumping on the Snapchat bandwagon:

• Are YOUR people there? Do your supporters, donors, and volunteers use Snapchat? What percentage of your audience is comprised of millennials?
• Do you have the bandwidth? Do you have the time and resources to manage yet another social network?
• How will you add value? What will you share that’s useful? What will you share that’s entertaining?

Here’s the recording from the Snapchat training: 

The post Should Your Nonprofit Use Snapchat? appeared first on Socialbrite.

I’ve been getting so many questions, and there’s been so much interest in this new app from the nonprofit community, that I thought posting this video Q and A would be an additional way to get the Persicope basics down, as well as some best practices and ideas on how your nonprofit can put Periscope to work.

Is your nonprofit using Periscope? Let me know in the comments! I’m doing a series of early case studies on Periscope for Nonprofts, and would love to feature how your nonprofit is leveraging Periscope for social or environmental good.

The post (VIDEO) Leveraging Periscope App for Social Good appeared first on Socialbrite.

As a follow-up to my Periscope for Nonprofits Quick Guide, I wanted to focus on real Nonprofit Periscopers, and how they’re using this new tool for social good.

Today, I’m featuring Jennifer Tislerics, the Special Events & Partnerships Coordinator for Gift of Life Michigan. Gift of Life Michigan coordinates organ and tissue donations from deceased donors for the state. Jennifer also handles social media, youth outreach, faith-based programs, workplace outreach, and more.

As a refresher, Periscope is a three month-old, free mobile app that allows any user to live stream from wherever they are. Jennifer bravely responded to our call out for ‘Nonprofit Periscopers’ and she had a lot of great advice to offer in our Q & A.

1) What made you want to try out Periscope? Was it a strategic move as part of a larger social strategy, or did you want to experiment with the app first to see if it would work for your nonprofit?

I saw the Michigan Secretary of State staff using Periscope at a press conference during National Donate Life Month in April. (In Michigan our Secretary of State oversees the DMV, and helps coordinate the state’s organ donor registry.) It seemed like an easy way to engage a broader audience in an event. I watched a few other broadcasts on the iPad and was intrigued by the possibilities to engage distant supporters in real-time. I decided to experiment with it a bit, to see how it might benefit our organization and cause.

2) What event did you use Periscope for?

In late April I used Periscope at a kick-off breakfast event for an annual walk/run event. I plan to use it again at the actual walk/run in late July.

3) What was the experience like? Did you get good feedback from users? Take us through your steps.

It was a rough start, actually. One of the biggest lessons I learned is to use a tripod and get up close to the action – do not carry the iPad around or video from the back of the room. At least not at a seated event – I will probably move around some at the walk/run event. I accidentally stopped the video early (bad finger placement holding the iPad), so had to start fresh with a new video, which our Twitter followers may not have found. Actually, I did a few shorter-than-intended videos. The ones with the most audience traffic had short but interesting titles, which made our video stand out from the crowd.

4) What was engagement like?

Not nearly as many people watched the videos as I had hoped, but it was early on a work-day morning. It was fun to see people in the real-life audience following on Periscope, too, and sending us hearts and positive comments!

5) What did you learn? Any tips to share?

Practice first! Practice on-site. Make sure you’ve got a solid internet connection. Use a tripod. Prepare a few people to talk to you on video beforehand. Promote it in advance so people know to follow you on Twitter to get the link (and any new links you may create after accidentally cutting the video short).

6) What worked and what didn’t? What would you like to see improved?

I wish we could “add on” or continue a previous video, rather than having to create a new one if we accidentally stop the first video. It’s tough typing in a new title in a hurry, trying to rush and get online again. In general, I think Periscope viewers prefer interactive videos rather than “broadcasts” of speeches, although when we video’d a Michigan Supreme Court Justice speaking that got some audience attention!

7) Would you use Periscope again?

Definitely! I plan to at our walk/run on July 25 in Detroit.

8) Did you download the broadcast?

No, I didn’t feel I got a high enough quality video to make that worthwhile. This time.

9) Do you see yourself adding it to your social media strategy?

Yes, if these first few experiences prove successful, or at least promising, we will incorporate it into our strategy.

10) Anything else you want to tell me that I didn’t ask?

Follow @giftoflifemich on Twitter the morning of Saturday, July 25 to get links to our Periscope video(s) and send me feedback! I’m always open to suggestions for improvement.

We will definitely do that, Jennifer, and we’ll send you tons of Periscope hearts for all the great work you are doing at Gift of Life Michigan! Thank you for sharing your Periscope experience with us.

Photo courtesy of Gift of Life Michigan

PS – I will be featuring nonprofits and NGOs using Periscope on this blog, so please let me know in the comments below of any npos you know that are using Periscope to engage their supporters.

The post Nonprofit Case Study: Periscope for Nonprofits appeared first on Socialbrite.

Live streaming has been thrust into the limelight recently with the release of Periscope — a free mobile app that allows any user to live stream from wherever they are. The whole concept of Periscope is to virtually place you somewhere in the world you would never be if it weren’t for the app.

Even as a nonprofit techie, I tend to look at new apps and platforms with a bit of skepticism because I don’t always think nonprofits should jump on the bandwagon of the next new shiny app that promises a lot and underperforms. That said, I do feel it’s important to keep updated on new tools, make an educated decision on whether it’s right for your nonprofit, and have a strong reason either way as to why or why not your nonprofit is using that social tool. I’ve noticed that having a well prepared answer at the ready is especially handy at board meetings when conversations start to drift to why your npo isn’t leveraging a certain social platform.

So when Periscope came along, I did what I normally do — I downloaded it to my smart phone and started playing with the app and paying attention to how others were maximizing its potential. I quickly realized Periscope could be a powerful broadcasting tool for nonprofits.

But how do you know if it’s right for your nonprofit and if it is, how do use it effectively?

THE GOOD (and what you need to know to get started):

• Periscope is a free downloadable mobile app that works with either iPhone or Android
• It’s Twitter owned, so you can sign up using your existing Twitter account and have instant access to all of your Twitter followers.
• You can share live broadcasts with your Twitter/Periscope following and the app sends a notification to your followers that you’re streaming live.
• There’s a very small learning curve on this app. I found it very simple to set up my account and start streaming.
• When you’re watching a live stream, tap on the screen to give the broadcaster hearts. On Periscope, hearts act as applause or ‘likes’ to show the broadcaster you like what you’re seeing. Visually, the hearts float up the right-hand side of your screen when you’re streaming. Hearts also measure popularity on Periscope.
• There is a chat function that lets you interact with your audience, and them with you. In shoty, viewers can comment on your livestream. It’s really great for Q and A’s and commentary in real time. You also have the ability to turn comments off.
• Once your broadcast is over, your analytics come on the screen and show you number of views, retention rate, duration of video, and number of hearts received. So great for data-driven organizations!
• When you end your broadcast, you can save the video to your camera roll and share it or watch it later.
• The lock button allows you to live stream a video for only certain people to watch. If you want to live stream an event for only your team or small supporter group to see, you can choose which people will be able to see your broadcast.

THE BAD:

• It just launched in March 2015, so it is still a little buggy.
• Your livestream is only available for 24 hours before it disappears on Periscope, so make sure to download it if it’s a video you want to keep.
• Periscope shoots only in vertical mode, not landscape, which has now become intuitive for anyone shooting any type of video on their smart phones. Lets hope that changes soon.
• Periscope needs better immediate control over trolls, spammers, and innapropriate comments during a live broadcast. As it is now, you have go to the user’s profile and then press the block button. This is too complicated when you’re in the process of broadcasting live. If Periscope doesn’t find a better remedy for this soon, it is going to be a dealbreaker for many, many nonprofit users.
• It forces you to begin your broadcast with only the option to shoot outward facing. So, if you’d like to begin your broadcast by speaking directly to camera, you can’t. You have to start outward facing, then double tap the screen to switch it inward facing. We should have the option to start a broadcast using whichever view we prefer.
• The ability to comment is limited to the first 200 people viewing the broadcast. Viewers can tap hearts but not comment if they are late to the broadcast and the livestream has over 200 viewers.

5 WAYS NONPROFITS CAN MAXIMIZE PERISCOPE

1) Live streaming from “the field”

If the connectivity is there, we just opened up a great way for communications and program officers to broadcast field visits abroad and beneficiary interviews (when appropriate). The same goes for local nonprofits who really have the capacity to live stream important “mission moments” that might otherwise go unshared.

2) Q and A’s

Periscope offers a great new way to connect with your supporters by having the ability to conduct livestream Q and A’s with your program participants, executive director, program director, celebrity ambassadors, and others. The chat function allows Periscope users to ask questions or post commentary as you’re live streaming, so it’s exceptionally interactive and fast. Think about Periscoping in a series, like doing a series of fun ‘Meet the Staff’  Q & A’s, or designating a portion of your weekly staff meeting to a Periscope Program Update and short Q and A afterwards. That’s a great way to let your supporters know ahead of time what you’ll be doing and what to expect.

3) Events Broadcasting

Periscope is a great way to let your supporters in on events that they’re interested in but can’t attend. That $500/plate gala dinner can now be accessible via Periscope. How great would it be to have a staff correspondent at your next gala, benefit, fundraiser or conference that’s in charge of showing viewers around and chatting with honorees and guests? It’s a fantastic way to share these exclusive events with your community.

Attending a rally, friendraiser, or other on site event for your nonprofit – bring your supporters along with a live stream on Periscope.

Another way to break the fourth wall, is to do an office tour led by your staff and interns. Showing the inner workings of your organization and the people behind the status updates has been shown to increase engagement and trust for nonprofits.

4) Crowdsourcing

If you’re looking to get some quick feedback on a new project, logo, initiative or maybe just some input on what your supporters like and would like to see more of, Periscope is a great tool to survey a clearly social media savvy focus group.

5) Announcements

Have an announcement to make? Did you just receive a big grant from USAID or added an awesome new hire to your team? Expanding your work to a new country? Added a new program? Did you host a contest and want to announce the winner? You can use Periscope to go live with your big news and involve your community in the excitement.

Nonprofit Best Practices for using Periscope:

• Be prepared BEFORE you click the “Start Broadcast” button. Given it’s an amateur live broadcast you do get some leeway, but try to be as steady with the shots and as well-prepared as possible. You don’t have to script the broadcast but remember that you’re telling a story. So what is the story you want to tell? Why have you asked people to come and watch this broadcast? What value does it have? What’s in it for them? Make sure you can answer these questions. Also, provide some guidance to your viewers as to what type of questions or feedback you’re looking for. Viewers may be hesitant to use the comments on Periscope, so make it ok by prompting them. Any good story has a beginning, middle and end to it, so it’s a really good idea to create a bullet list of what you want to happen during each stage of the broadcast, to ensure everyone on your team is on the same page. Above all, remember, all good media production rules still apply.
• Title your live stream broadcast well. Tell us what it’s about in a concise way.
• Be wise about using your hashtags to promote your live stream. Hashtaging allows people to find your stream via Twitter when searching that topic.
• To reach as wide an audience as possible, share the broadcast and location on Twitter. You’ll be able to reach far more viewers, and having the video present on Twitter gives it a much longer shelf life.
• Use the top third of your mobile screen, as  the comment function will block the view of the lower part of your broadcast.

Final Thoughts:

I think Periscope is one of the latest platforms to come along that has the greatest potential for nonprofits. Live streaming can take engagement to a whole new level and if the bandwidth is there, give nonprofits and global NGO’s the ability to share the on-the-ground work that is being done. Perisope has the potential of upping the levels of engagement, transparency and trust. From another perspective, I wonder how many nonprofits will be comfortable with the risk inherent in livestreaming? While we’re seeing so many nonprofits using social media wisely and experimenting, most nonprofits still want to have tight control and management over any content they produce. As we have seen in the past, nonprofit teams that are more comfortable with risk and social sharing will help pave the way for other organizations who will wait until the app is less new and seemingly less risky. Ultimately, lack of complete content control and the inability to quickly seed out inappropriate comments, will present the biggest barriers for a nonprofit’s use of Periscope.

Lastly, from a citizen reporting and journalism perspective, Periscope is and will continue to be a real game changer. I believe we’ll be seeing much more ‘Periscoping’ in parts of the world seeing political and social unrest — giving us unprecedented access into areas otherwise unseen by most.

I will be featuring nonprofits and NGOs using Periscope on this blog, so please let me know in the comments below of any npos you know that are using Periscope to engage their supporters.

*Blog post updated on 7/5/15.

The post Periscope for Nonprofits: A Quick Guide & Review appeared first on Socialbrite.

By Caroline Avakian / Photo above courtesy of Facebook

It was just a few hours after I found out about the devastating Nepal earthquake that I noticed an alert on my Facebook feed that I hadn’t seen before. My colleague who works in Nepal had been marked “Safe” in Facebook’s new “Safety Check” feature, that instantly let me know how many of my Facebook friends were in the “affected area”, how many had been “marked safe”, and also allowed me to mark myself safe in the event I was in the “affected area”.

The Safety Check feature was quickly followed up by a “Donate” feature, so if you log into Facebook today, you’ll notice a message at the top of your news feed that lets you donate to International Medical Corps, a humanitarian organization Facebook has partnered with to provide emergency aid. Facebook is also providing matching funds of up to two million to provide immediate and ongoing relief. The IMCs emergency response teams are operating mobile medical units in Nepal, India and Bangladesh, to deliver critically needed medical care and medicines to the regions hardest-hit by the earthquake. They’re distributing hygiene kits, water purification tablets and other supplies to the most devastated areas.

The post How social media platforms are responding to the Nepal earthquake, and how you can help appeared first on Socialbrite.

You’ve no doubt heard the advice that posting photos will help you get more reach on Facebook. That advice has been tried and true for years, until now.

According to a study by SocialBakers, photos now get less organic reach than videos, links, and even text updates. In fact, videos are now the king of the News Feed!

Socialbakers analyzed 4,445 Facebook Pages and 670,000 posts between October 2014 and February 2015. They discovered that videos now get more than twice as much reach as photos (shown below).

There’s no clear reason for this recent Facebook algorithm change, but Socialbakers offers two explanations:

1. Facebook is responding to Pages looking to game the newsfeed with photos.
2. Facebook is taking on YouTube as the king of video content.

Jan Rezab, Socialbakers CEO, told Business Insider: “Video is proving to be a very engaging format and gaining in popularity, consumers really like them. Therefore we’d advise marketers to include video as part of their content strategies.”

How should your nonprofit respond?

• First of all, check your reach report in your Facebook Page Insights. Specifically, analyze post reach by type between October 2014 and February 2015, the period of time Socialbakers analyzed.
• Second, consider stepping up video content.
• Third, consider publishing blog posts on your website. This way, you’ll be armed with a Facebook Page AND your website, in your Facebook marketing action plan.

What do you think?

The post Photos no longer get more reach on Facebook appeared first on Socialbrite.

Target audience: NGOs, nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, social enterprises, aid workers, journalists.

Last week, I wrote a post on 10 Nonprofit Productivity Apps to Try in 2014, and it prompted a great discussion with a colleague regarding which apps could actually help humanitarians working in the field.

In recent years, we’ve seen many exciting and innovative mobile apps hit the digital marketplace – apps that help connect farmers in India to markets, help medical workers gather health data and treat patients in Malawi, and help people fundraise on the go. But what about the aid workers who often risk their lives just doing their jobs? Any helpful apps to make their jobs a bit easier?

So as a follow-up to last week’s post, I’m sharing five mobile apps specifically created for humanitarian aid workers or … the humanitarian at heart.

Global Emergency Overview

1Global Emergency Overview is my favorite among the five. This app is beautifully designed and works to inform humanitarian decision makers by presenting a summary of major humanitarian crises, both recent and protracted. It is designed to provide answers to four questions:

• Which humanitarian crises currently exist?
• What has happened in the last seven days?
• What is the situation in the country affected by a crisis?
• Which countries could be prioritized in terms of humanitarian response?

Brilliant app for aid workers and those that just want to keep up with world news and crises.

Available for iOS (Apple’s mobile devices) and Android.

_________________________________________________________________________

 Relief Central

2The Relief Central app aims to assist relief workers and first responders by sharing updates and news from aid groups working on the same humanitarian crisis. The app also shares disaster assessments and response information.

Available for iOS and Android.

_________________________________________________________________________

iGDACS

3iGDACS provides near real-time information about natural disasters and allows you to send back information in the form of a geo-located image and text. The Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System is intended to tap the abundant information about disasters available from people who actually experience them. Reports of the iGDACS users are used to improve the overall situational picture.

Available only for iOS.

_________________________________________________________________________

Humanitarian Kiosk

4The Humanitarian Kiosk app provides a range of up-to-the-minute humanitarian related information from emergencies around the world. Once installed, you simply select the kiosks that you are interested in and they will be automatically downloaded and synchronized to your mobile device. Downloading the files enables offline abilities ,which is extremely important, as we know that most responders do not have a regular, consistent Internet connection.

Available for iOS only.

_________________________________________________________________________

Voxer

5OK, so while Voxer isn’t specifically designed with the aid worker in mind, it is the app I most often use when working abroad. I wrote about this app in my last blog post but it definitely deserves a place on this list.

Voxer is a free walkie-talkie style phone app that lets you talk to anyone in the world using live text and voice. It also lets you send photos. Voxer really does works just like a walkie-talkie — only better, because it records all your messages for playback later. It’s especially great for international organizations and aid workers who can use it to communicate with other program and headquarters staff. No dialing or adding country codes, just hold down the talk button and talk! Brilliant and super intuitive app. Use it on just about any mobile device.

Did I miss any? In the comments below, tell me what some of your favorites apps are. Like I said, they don’t have to be made specifically for aid workers to be great tools, so comment away!

Related

• 10 nonprofit productivity tools & apps to try in 2014 (Socialbrite)

• Mobile apps to get stuff done on the go (Socialbrite)

• Building mobile applications for social good (Socialbrite)

• Does a mobile app make sense for your nonprofit? (Socialbrite)

The post 5 mobile apps for humanitarian aid workers appeared first on Socialbrite.

Consider how to connect with constituents on their terms

Guest post by Lori Halley
Wild Apricot

Are all of the posts and articles about “going mobile” and having a mobile strategy making you manic? While we’ve all come to terms with the fact that we live in a mobile world, what does it really mean for small nonprofits and membership organizations?

What exactly does “mobile” mean today? In a great presentation, Mobile Is the Needle, Social Is the Thread, Kristen Purcell, Pew Internet Project’s associate director of research, suggests:

Mobile …

• Moves information with us
• Makes information accessible anytime and anywhere
• Puts information at our fingertips
• Magnifies the demand for timely information
• Makes information location-sensitive

It’s about more than just your website

So while there’s a lot of talk about how nonprofits and membership organizations need to update their websites so they are mobile-friendly or offer responsive design, “going mobile” is more than just about your website. It’s about a new way to interact with, find and consume information. After all, you aren’t just concerned about broadcasting information at website visitors, you’re also building community and encouraging conversation; and enticing supporters to respond to your calls to action. This means you need to think about strategies that “mobile-ize” your connections with your supporters, members or donors, whether that is via email, text, apps or even old-school phone calls, as well as on your website.

I like the way Watt Hamlett frames it in his guest post on the npEngage blog:

“Your organization [needs to begin] thinking about starting or deepening mobile engagement with your constituents who, like me, are rarely out of arms reach of their mobile device.”

Know the possibilities

Mobile isn’t just one thing, it is many. Today, the term mobile covers four primary types of engagement:

• Mobile messaging: sending text messages to your constituents
• Text to give: enabling your constituents to text a $5 or $10 donation to your organization, paid via their mobile bill
• Mobile Web: presenting content and engagement opportunities in a way that is optimized for mobile device browsers, including things like donation forms and advocacy action forms
• Mobile apps: taking your place beside Angry Birds and Flixster with packaged content or functionality

How should you ‘mobile-ize’ to connect with your constituents?

In a mobile session that we hosted last spring, there were some wonderful tips offered by some nonprofit industry experts to help organizations wondering how they should approach mobile. Here is some of their insightful advice on where to start:

• In her post, 4 Questions to Ask Before Going Mobile, Katya Andresen offers four groups of strategic questions to help guide your thinking:
  1. Who are your constituents and what are they like? Are they using smartphones? How do they typically support you? When are times when they might want to take action on mobile, and what types of actions are you hoping to inspire?
  2. What resources do you have to commit to mobile? Do a quick reality check. What time, money, expertise and staff do you have to commit to mobile, and what does that say about the scope of project you can handle?
  3. How will mobile fit into your other outreach efforts? Step back and look at mobile as a way to supplement, reinforce and enhance your other efforts, including donor acknowledgement, special events and social media.
  4. How are you going to measure your efforts? How will you track the return on investment in cost savings or added donations? How about the return on engagement in the form of new supporters, added convenience for supporters, improved advocacy and brand exposure?
• In a guest post on Kivi’s Nonprofit Communications Blog, Building an Effective Nonprofit Mobile Strategy, Tonia Zampieri offered tips to nonprofits on how to create a mobile integration strategy:
  1. Build a mobile matrix. Include every distinct audience you talk to – donors and clients, if applicable. For one nonprofit your list might include teens, single professionals, stay at home moms, health care professionals and Hispanics. Reaching these groups may require different mobile channels – texting vs. mobile web content, vs. mobile-rendered forms, vs. apps – and how they receive your information may be different, too. Creating an easy spreadsheet where matching up different groups with their respective channel of choice will help understand where to focus.
  2. Do your homework and pick your most pressing need. To avoid being overwhelmed pick the audiences that you need to engage with most and work on developing a mobile strategy for them.
  3. Write copy easily consumed via mobile. In our above example, will your new pamphlet be read right there on the phone or is it best to have it sent via email as a mobile download? Matching content to how it will be best received is key to achieving desired results.
• In Five Ways Fundraisers Can Utilise the Power of Mobile, Craig Linton (Fundraising Detective) reminds us of the possibilities – aside from mobile users looking at our websites on their smartphones – such as:
  • Sending instant updates via text or email and get people to link through to exclusive content
  • At an event, “You have a captive audience and a chance to tell your story. Imagine a concert where the artist asks everyone to donate … to a chosen charity and they won’t play a certain song until 1,000 people have texted!

Making realistic mobile plans that fit your organization

With 88% of US adults using cell phones; 46% on smartphones; 19% owning e-book readers and 19% owning tablets (according to Pew Internet Project),  mobile engagement is here to stay. If you or your Board still need convincing, take a look at Google’s Our Mobile Planet presentation (PDF). It demonstrates how smartphones are “indispensable to daily life,” are transforming consumer behavior, helping us navigate the world and much more.

But while your mobile planning will need to address making your website more mobile-friendly or investigating responsive design to accommodate growing smartphone use, you need to start by looking at your constituents and your key communications methods and messages, along with your budget, before making realistic mobile plans.

What steps has your organization taken to address mobile? Let us know in the comments below.

Related

• How nonprofits can get started with mobile
• How nonprofits should capitalize on the mobile revolution
• How to make your nonprofit site more mobile-friendly
• Why your nonprofit should have a mobile strategy
• A beginner’s guide to mobile fundraising

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